Paper short abstract:

Backpacker deaths in Australia are typically treated as isolated incidents. In reality, they are part of an ongoing history of structural violence, as temporary migration schemes such as the working holiday produce socioeconomic conditions that give rise to increased exposure to risk and danger.

Paper long abstract:

What happens when an overseas backpacker is killed in Australia, while doing seasonal agricultural work? Who is to blame, when their death is indicative of institutionalised, everyday vulnerability? How can collective ignorance be transformed into accountability and social responsibility?

This paper examines the death of a working holidaymaker near a regional Queensland farm in 2016. Mid-way through my research, a young South Korean woman was accidentally killed while attempting to cross the road and get to the field where she was picking broccoli. I observed that the incident raised questions within the small town about backpackers' cultural competence and ability to navigate the rural landscape, but the socioeconomic conditions that contribute to their likelihood of exposure to risk were overlooked. As Holmes (2013) has noted, hazardous pathways, modes of travel, and places rooted in exclusion are symbolic of the routinisation of vulnerability encountered by various types of migrants and tourists globally.

Temporary migration schemes direct working holidaymakers to rural Australia in search of seasonal agricultural employment, but also differentiate between citizen and other, indirectly impacting physical safety and even contributing to legitimate danger. In this context, the diasporic deaths of working holidaymakers are not isolated incidents, and should be carefully scrutinised as part of an ongoing pattern needing redress.